CHAPTER XVII 



THE SELECTION AND COMPOUNDING OF 

 RATIONS 



THERE are several factors that must be considered 

 in selecting an efficient and economical ration factors 

 which relate to both science and practice. It is gener- 

 ally desirable that a food mixture shall be "balanced," 

 but this gives no assurance that a ration can be fed 

 under particular conditions with satisfactory results. 

 Intelligent observation in the barn or stable really takes 

 the first place in formulating a method of feeding, which 

 is supplemented to a valuable extent by the scientific 

 insight of the chemist and physiologist. A ration may be 

 chemically right and practically wrong, but, at the same 

 time, it is worth much to the feeder to be assured that the 

 nutrients which he supplies to his animals will meet their 

 physiological needs. Moreover, commercial relations 

 such as the prices of feeds and product must be con- 

 sidered, and this is a business question and not a scien- 

 tific matter. 



389. Palatableness as a factor in feeding animals. 

 A successful ration must be palatable. An agreeable 

 flavor is not a source of energy or of building-material, 

 but it tends to stimulate the digestive and assimilative 

 functions of the animal to their highest efficiency, and is 

 a requisite for the consumption of the necessary quantity 

 of food. Common experience teaches that when cows or 

 animals of any other class do not like their food, they 



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